The ELI Weekly
Out and About: Dominoes with Friends
by Paola Salazar, RW 40
I have many hobbies, but there is something I do every day that is to play Dominoes. I always play Dominoes in my home, while I am on the bus, in my friend’s house, anytime and anywhere. I started playing Dominoes in high school with my sports teacher. When we were supposed to be studying, we were playing Dominoes. Then, the quarantine came, and I installed (Plato) which is an app that has many games to play online. Obviously, I just played Dominoes in Plato. I continued playing Dominoes in my phone for 2 years. After that, I moved here, I made many friends from my country. We started playing, and we never stopped again. We meet every day to play and listen to music together. Doing this is one of the things that I enjoy the most because it helps me to stay relaxed.
CIP Weekday Activities
Weekend Activity
Saturday September 30 – Clearwater Beach Trip – 9:00am-11:00pm – Selling Bus passes now!
See one of Florida’s best beaches famous for its soft sand, clear water, and great restaurants and shops! Buy your bus passes from Tate in the CIP Office between 9:00am and 12:30pm with 30 dollars exact cash and your Gator1 ID. Bus passes are limited and are almost sold out! Self-drivers are also welcome to come. Please see Tate to let the CIP know you will be meeting us there. Bring your bathing suit, sunscreen, towel, a change of clothes, snacks or a packed lunch, and money for shopping and food!
Please see the schedule below for the trip – Anyone riding the bus must follow this schedule.
Other CIP Reminders
CIP Passport
Don’t forget to get your CIP Passport hole punched from the activity leaders AT the event (not after). We will no longer hole punch passports after the event. Redeem your completed passport for a small gift and photo for the ELI Instagram! Remember the CIP Pineapple is hidden in a new place every Monday in the CIP office. Stop by and find it for hole punches!
Conversation Partners (CPs)
Sign up for a CP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrco_-3vxQmpyStsHOW0DQcoPfkm5yJYDzOuWLmq3nIaj2wg/viewform
Remember, if you sign up, you must meet your partner at least once a week and respond to their messages. Email conversationpartners@eli.ufl.edu if you have any questions or problems or stop by the CIP office to see Will during his office hours.
Notes from the Office
Smoking on Campus: UF does not permit smoking on campus. This includes cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco (chew or dip). The ban on smoking means students cannot smoke in buildings, outdoor sitting areas, parking lots, garages, and on roadways.
Student Voices: We love to see our students writing! Every semester, we take your writing and publish it in Student Voices. Past submissions have included paragraphs, essays, creative stories, recipes, letters, obituaries, poetry, creative stories, class projects, and other interesting works on a variety of topics. I encourage you to submit anything of your work that you wish to see published. It can be from any class or something you have written on your own but ask your teachers for help editing! You can email it to Olga Moody (omoody@ufl.edu) or to your teacher. Please include your name and class on your submission. The deadline for submissions is Friday, November 3.
Absence and Tardy FAQ
Students have been asking questions about absences and tardies. Here are some reminders and answers to some FAQs. If you have questions, be sure to talk to Christine or check your student guide to read the full ELI attendance policy. Do not ask your friends… that is how rumors get started!
Class attendance is a requirement of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for F-1 visa holders. It is also required by the ELI. If you arrive to class late, you will be marked tardy. Three tardies equals one absence. You are considered late as soon as the class time starts, and your teacher begins teaching. Students are expected to arrive in the classroom several minutes before the start of class so that the teacher can start on time. If you miss more than 20 minutes of a class for any reason, you will be marked absent.
There are no “excused” absences at the ELI. If you are not physically in the class, your teachers MUST mark you absent, no matter what the reason. However, if you have a good reason for being absent (you are sick or are celebrating a religious holiday, for example), your teachers will let you make up the work you missed. If you will be absent, you must let your teachers know in advance.
There are many good reasons you might not be able to attend class, which is why you are able to miss 15% of your classes (42 hours for full-time students) without a penalty. This should give you plenty of time to do things like make appointments, stay home if you are ill, or celebrate religious holidays.
Here are the answers to some FAQs:
- Q: If I email Christine and my teachers when I am absent, will it be forgiven?
A: If you are not physically in class, your teachers MUST mark you absent, no matter what the reason. You should email your teachers if you will miss a class so you can ask to make up the work you missed. If you will be absent for 3 days or more in a row, you should email Christine so we know what is happening.
- Q: If I bring a doctor’s note to Christine, can she erase my absences?
A: No. It is impossible to “erase” absences at the ELI. However, you should save any doctors notes or other documentation of your absences in case you go over 15% and want to petition to receive a certificate.
- Q: I went to my class and put my backpack in my seat, but then I needed to answer a phone call, so went outside. Why did my teacher mark me absent, even though I was there on time?
A: If you miss 20 minutes of a class, teachers must mark you absent, even if you are there on time. So, if you sat in class for 10 minutes, then you left for 15 minutes to talk on the phone, then you returned to the class for 10 minutes, then you stepped out to use the restroom and talk to your friend in the hallway for 5 minutes, then returned to class for the final 10 minutes, you would be marked absent.
- Q: I was just 3 minutes late to class and the teacher was only reviewing the homework when I arrived. Why did he mark me tardy?
A: Students are expected to be in class and paying attention at the start of the class time. Your teachers can mark you tardy any time after that.
- Q: I missed more than 15% of my classes because I had an accident and was in the hospital. Can I still receive a certificate?
A: Yes, you can submit a petition to receive a certificate if you saved your medical documentation, emailed Christine about your situation, and told your teachers what was happening so you could make up your classwork.
Photo of the Week
Birthdays!
Manners & Culture
Q: Can you tell us the rules for baseball?
A: Baseball is truly America’s game, invented in New York in the 1840s. Here is a simple video explaining the rules of baseball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skOsApsF0jQ
We also have our own local baseball expert! Ask Thomas Dolce if you want to know more about baseball.
Grammar
Q: Is this sentence correct? I decided to don’t go to the football game.
A. In grammar lingo, you are trying to make the infinitive construction ” to go” negative. To make an infinitive negative, you will add the word “not” before the infinitive. Your sentence would look like this:
- I decided not to go to the football game.
Here are some other examples of negative infinitives:
- It is hard not to worry about tests.
- Try not to be late to class.
- I decided not to eat sugar for a month.
Notes From the Editor
Come by my office (221 MAT) and help me write the Out and About section! There are so many topics to write about–a fun activity, an interesting place on campus, a club or hobby that you enjoy, or even tell us about a place to visit in your country. Bring a photo of your experience and put it in the Weekly.
Send stories and grammar, manners, or culture questions to Maya Shastri (mshastri@ufl.edu).